1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tamper-proof locks for firearms and, more specifically, to a Quick-release Gun Lock.
2. Description of Related Art
Guns and other firearms have been in use by society for protection and recreation for centuries. In recent years, with escalating crime levels, and particularly in attacks at the home, people have contemplated arming themselves. To have a weapon in the home can provide a feeling of security for many people. Historically, there have been two problems with keeping a firearm in the home: (1) preventing children from getting injured while playing with a loaded gun, and (2) preventing an intruder from getting to the weapon first and using it against the victims. As a result, even if a person does keep a gun in the home, it is usually not loaded. An unloaded gun can actually be more dangerous than a loaded one, since it can usually only be a deadly bluff to the future invader. What is needed is a device that permits a gun to be loaded and ready for use, while still preventing injury to children, as well as keeping an intruder from using the gun against the victims.
Semi-automatic weapons have become particularly popular for self-defense purposes because they can fire quicker and they hold more rounds than a revolver. While other prior devices have attempted to solve the gun safety problem for revolvers or rifles, none has been effective for semi-automatic weapons. FIGS. 1 through 5 will introduce the reader to the problems with locking semi-automatic pistols.
FIG. 1 depicts a conventional semi-automatic pistol 10. The pistol 10 comprises two major structures: the handle portion 12 and the slide 14. The slide 14 is permitted to slide along the handle portion 12 during the operation of the pistol 10.
FIG. 2 depicts the pistol 10 with the slide 14 in the recoil position, such as is the case when the slide 14 recoils immediately after a shot is fired. As can be seen, the slide 14 has traveled towards the left with respect to the handle portion 12. The barrel 16 is exposed in this position, and the spent shell exit 18 is open to the chamber (see FIG. 3). If a shot had just been fired, the spent shell casing would have been drawn out of the chamber by the extractor (see FIG. 3), which is attached to the slide 14. The extractor (see FIG. 3) also ejects the spent shell casing out of the chamber through the spent shell exit 18.
FIG. 3 is a partial cutaway side view of the typical semi-automatic pistol 10, depicting some of the inner workings as pertinent to the present invention. The slide 14 is in the recoil position in this view to depict what happens immediately after the spent shell casing has been ejected. The position shown could also be the result of manually cocking the pistol by grasping the slide 14 with the hand and pushing it to the left with respect to the handle portion 12.
When the slide 14 is cocked, a round 20 is dispensed by the magazine 22 into the vicinity of the chamber 24. The chamber 24 is the end of the barrel 16 from where rounds 20 are fired. The chamber 24 may be of larger diameter than the center of the barrel 16 (i.e. the bore 26), or the bore 26 may be the same diameter from the tip of the barrel 16 to the chamber 24.
FIG. 4 depicts the pistol 10 once the slide 14 has returned to the uncocked or ready position. When the slide 14 travels forwardly, it forces the round 20 into the chamber 24; the mechanism that accomplishes this is not pertinent to this discussion, and is therefore not shown. If one can imagine that the bullet has been fired out through the bore 26, and that now the round 20 is actually a spent shell casing, we can proceed to understanding the functioning of the pistol 10.
While a round is in the chamber 24, it is engaged by the extractor 28. As described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, when a shot is fired, the slide 14 would recoil by traveling to the left. Since the extractor 28 is attached to, and travels with, the slide 14, when the slide 14 recoils, the extractor 28 will remove the spent shell casing (imagine as the round 20) by pulling it backward and out of the chamber 24. Once free from the chamber 24, the spent shell casing (imagine as the round 20) will be aligned with the spent casing exit (see FIG. 1), through which it is ejected through, also by the extractor 28.
FIG. 5 further shows how the extraction process operates. FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway top view of the pertinent components of the pistol. As can be seen, the extractor 28 is a spring-loaded "finger" that grabs onto the groove 30 that is located at the bottom of the spent shell casing (imagine as the round 20).
Rockwood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,596, discloses a "Safety Plug for Firearm Chamber" that is, essentially, a two-piece unit that fits into the chamber and thereafter prevents a round from being loaded. There are at least three problems with the Rockwood device as it applies to semi-automatic pistols. First, the device would be easily removed from the pistol by an intruder or child, by simply jamming a stick into the barrel and poking the device out through the spent casing exit. Second, the device cannot be hidden from the potential intruder in order to prevent its removal. All that the intruder has to do is to cock the slide and look into the spent shell exit to see the device and therefore determine how to remove it. Third, there is no quick way to remove the two-piece Rockwood device. If the device is inserted with an interference fit, as described (see Column 3, line 3), it must be jammed out by a stick inserted into the barrel--this process could take more time than is available in an emergency situation. What is needed is a locking device for semi-automatic and automatic pistols that is disguised while in use to prevent unauthorized users from removing it. The device should also be extremely quick and easy to remove in case of emergency.
Another device, the "Safety Device for Firearms" disclosed in S. Pula et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,918, is unworkable for the semi-automatic or automatic weapon. The Pula device has at least three problems with its design. First, the design is extremely complicated, and therefore not cost-effective. In order for this device to gain wide-spread popularity, and therefore use and protection, it must be reliable but also fairly inexpensive. The Pula device is cost-prohibitive as designed. Second, the Pula device, like the Rockwood device, is difficult and slow to remove. Presumably, (although the removal process is not disclosed by Pula) the device is removed by unscrewing the plug 18, by engaging the tool 23 with either the front or rear kerf 20 and 21, respectively. The device is then poked or shaken out of the chamber. Again, the time to execute these steps may not be available. Third, the Pula device must be made from metal in order to provide the necessary durability to the expanded segments 17. The insertion of a metal device into the chamber that is then pressed outwardly into the bore walls, may actually mar the surface of the chamber and damage the gun. What is needed is a low-cost, reliable, quickly-removable gun lock that will not damage the inner workings of the gun.